. >>> more troubling news for president obama's president obama's signature healthcare law. only 40 to 50,000 americans have been able to enroll into the affordable care act. far below what was expected danielle nottingham reports for we'll from washington. >> reporter: between 40,000 and 50,000 americans have been able to successfully enroll in private insurance, through the healthcare.gov website, according to the wall street journal. industry analysts have confirmed those numbers for cbs news in the 36 states where the federal government is running the exchange. >> cbs news data from the states operating their own exchanges, shows another 50,000 enrollees. but those figures fall well short of the 500,000 the obama administration initially had hoped to have at this point. . >> the fact that the website has been so challenging, so problematic in that first month, means the enrollment numbers will be even lower than expected. >> reporter: the administration says it is counting on the numbers to climb as the signups improve. dale directed medicare and medicaid under the first